Review: Mosquitoes augmented reality shooter for iPhone

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Augmented Reality is the new buzzword, and is surfacing in a number of games for the iPhone. If you’re not familiar with augmented reality, it augments the real world with a virtual one, usually by placing information or pictures on top of the real world that you can see via the camera’s lens. The first apps to feature this technology were around mapping but these days we’re seeing it show up in a variety of different games.

Mosquitoes is one such game that blends reality with the virtual world. In the game it’s your job to kill mosquitoes, which you find by moving your iPhone around until a mosquito comes into view. Once one does, depending on the game mode that you selected, you either kill as many mosquitoes as you can in two minutes with unlimited bullets, or kill 10 mosquitoes with 10 bullets. The mosquito itself looks a bit cartoony, which I wasn’t a fan of initially but as I played, began to appreciate how the cartoon-ish nature of the mosquito allowed it to stand out in just about any environment.

The game is definitely engaging and has the added bonus of causing onlookers to wonder what you’re doing. As an example, I recently played it on an airplane and the guy in the seat next to me definitely wanted to know what I was doing with my iPhone.

The only downside to mosquitoes is that you need to have an iPhone 3GS since the game takes advantage of the compass and accelerometer. Otherwise, it’s a solid offering, especially for the price.

You can see Mosquitoes in action below or purchase it for 99 cents at the App Store.